Pro-government youths silenced in light of Hong Kong’s fight for democracy

Since the beginning of the anti-government protests, Luk tends to be careful of her words. She seldom posts her thoughts on social media because she fears of doxxing and cyberbullying.

"I don't want to leave evidence that can accuse me, I don’t want to be identified,” she worried.

A survey conducted by researchers from four Hong Kong Universities showed that nearly half of 6,688 protesters are in the 21 to 29 age range, which shows that young adults do not support the government. For those who support the government, they seldom dare to voice their opinions because of peer pressure.

Ms. Luk is a government supporter amongst the group of young adults. She believes it is unnecessary for the public to feel frightened to the pass of the extradition bill as long as they obey the law.

She added, “I have always been politically apathetic. If the bill has no influence on my daily life, study, work, I have no opinion.”

She also does not support violent behaviour from protesters.

“When I was young, my parents and teachers taught me that we shouldn’t fight and destroy public properties. But now, it seems that destroying public property becomes acceptable.”

“Even you don’t want to get involved in politics, it affects your daily life, and hence, you will eventually get involved in it,” said Yiu Ching, a Hong Kong Baptist University student who joined more than ten protester marches in the past three months and some promotional activities in the community.

“For example, when you are dining out in Mong Kok, the riot police may suddenly drive you away,” she explained.

She thinks those who maintain political apathy are supporting police brutality against citizens.

Though believing the government supporters’ ideas are inaccurate, “I respect their rights of expression,” said Ms. Yiu.

But Ms. Luk doesn’t think the opposite party understands her political stance. “Voicing disagreements has a risk of doxxing and affecting daily life,” she explained.

On a local forum, LIHKG, some netizens encouraged government supporters’ friends, classmates or colleagues to disclose those supporters’ personal information.

Ms. Luk’s friends who pursue democracy know her political stance, but they didn’t post her privacy online. Instead, some of them try to refute her and some just avoid to discuss political issues with her. “If we talk about protests, our friendship will immediately end,” said Ms. Luk, “I didn’t dare to say anything.”

“If my friend supports the government, I’ll continue to be her friend on Facebook, but not in reality,” said Ms. Yiu, “our values are different.”

But she is willing to add friends who are government supporters on Facebook because she wants to read their posts and understand their thoughts.

Yiu Ching thinks the pressure that pro-democratic youth feel doesn’t come from government or society, it mainly comes from themselves. “We feel pressure because we want our demands be accomplished quickly and in a better way.”

“We do criticize pro-government people, but they also diss us; protesters disclose their identity, but they also disclose protesters’ identity,” said Yiu Ching. “It’s an interactive thing, neither of us should be blamed for criticizing each other.”

Hundreds of young people gathered at City University of Hong Kong to join in a flash mob concert. They sing to express their five demands.

SO Juk Man, a teaching assistant in the department of education studies and a tutor in psychology class at Hong Kong Baptist University, said people in Hong Kong may now have a feeling of losing sense of control, which means how much control a person has over his life.

Mr. SO says the protests create a tense social situation that makes people lose their sense of control, and hence, feeling hopeless to the future. This leads to suicide problem and a Ripple Effect, which means the impacts of a thing gradually spread like ripples expanding across the water.

But some people may try to take back their controlling power. For instance, they will consider migrating to other countries. Boycott is also a way for protesters to earn more sense of control because they take this action to increase the likelihood of fulfilling the demands.

In facing the ongoing anti-government protests, SO Juk Man, a teaching assistant in the department of education studies and a tutor in psychology class at Hong Kong Baptist University, said people might have depression and anxiety symptoms.

Mr. SO believes not discussing political issues between two opposite parties is just a way to avoid a head-on collision, but that cannot solve the fundamental problem.

“If friends choose to communicate, the first thing is not to be judgemental,” Mr. SO suggested. “No judgement would give both parties a sense of safety, which is the basis of communication.”